All of the members of Idaho’s Congressional delegation have sent letters to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission siding with U.S. phosphate producers in The Mosaic Co.’s June 26 countervailing duty petition against imports from Morocco and Russia. The delegation includes Sen. Mike Crapo, Sen. James Risch, Rep. Mike Simpson, and Rep. Russ Fulcher, all Republicans.
“Throughout Idaho, fertilizer companies have made multi-million dollar investments in fertilizer production facilities and phosphate mining operations,” said the delegation. “These investments, however, are now endangered as our domestic fertilizer companies struggle with an increasingly unfair market driven by foreign producers of fertilizer. In Idaho, further investment in facilities and research and development has been curbed, and we are aware that facilities in some other states have closed.”
While Mosaic is the only producer bringing the petition, J.R. Simplot Co., Boise, has also spoken out in favor of the petition and has made the argument that it has invested heavily in the domestic phosphate industry, with further investment halted due to poor economics at current pricing levels (GM July 24, p. 1).
Idaho also hosts Toronto-based Itafos’ Conda phosphate production and mining operations.
The delegation said while farmers and fertilizer retailers may have benefited from lower prices as a result of these imports, these short-term benefits could lead to irreversible damage to domestic suppliers, and ultimately to potential shortages and soaring prices.
They added that U.S. phosphate producers must adhere to high and expensive U.S. environmental standards with respect to extensive waste management associated with phosphate production that the state-owned Moroccan producer does not. They also added that Moroccan and Russian producers receive significant benefits related to mineral rights, land rights, and tax incentives.
“There simply isn’t a level playing field in our own market, and it is threatening the very existence of our U.S. producers,” the delegation added.
To date, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has spoken out in favor of the petition (GM Sept. 11, p. 1) and some eight farm state Republican senators have spoken out against it (GM Aug. 14, p. 30).